The Probate Lawyer Blogtag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-17839242014-08-20T11:39:49-04:00Famous Fortune Fights!
by Andy & Danielle MayorasTypePadCelebrity Legacies: The Anna Nicole Smith Estate Battletag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01053645c43a970b01a73e04dbbb970d2014-08-20T11:39:49-04:002015-02-02T12:42:04-05:00So how long exactly does it take to resolve the dispute over the estate of an 89-year old Texas oil tycoon who married a 26-year old stripper and Playboy Playmate? Shouldn't the case end when both the stripper (Anna Nicole Smith) and her "step-son" (Pierce Marshall, who was 27 years older than she was) die? And is this really important enough to be heard by the United States Supreme Court, not once, but twice? This is installment #3 of our Estate Planning Lessons From The Stars series, which is based on the Celebrity Legacies TV show for which we provide...Danielle & Andy

So how long exactly does it take to resolve the dispute over the estate of an 89-year old Texas oil tycoon who married a 26-year old stripper and Playboy Playmate? Shouldn't the case end when both the stripper (Anna Nicole Smith) and her "step-son" (Pierce Marshall, who was 27 years older than she was) die?

And is this really important enough to be heard by the United States Supreme Court, not once, but twice?

This is installment #3 of our Estate Planning Lessons From The Stars series, which is based on the Celebrity Legacies TV show for which we provide commentary as the estate legal experts. See other articles in the series here.

While we monitor, write about, and provide commentary for media outlets around the country about many complicated celebrity estates, this one takes the prize. We call it "The Grand-Daddy Of All Estate Battles." We've written several articles about this case so far, which you can read here.

But Anna Nicole filed for bankruptcy in the federal court system in California. Pierce then sued Anna Nicole for defamation in the California bankruptcy case (big mistake there), which opened the door for Anna Nicole to counter-sue Pierce Marshall.

In the counter-suit, Smith claimed that Pierce wrongly interfered with her expected inheritance, by tricking and otherwise preventing her loving husband from leaving her any money. Anna Nicole alleged that her elderly hubby was going to create a trust for her that would include one-half of the value by which his assets appreciated during their 14-month marriage (including a robust rise in the value of Koch Industries stock).

In part due to Pierce Marshall's alleged altering, destroying, and hiding evidence in the case, Anna Nicole won in bankruptcy court (to the tune of $475 million). With that victory in hand, she dropped the case in Texas probate court ... or, at least, she tried to. Pierce asked the Texas jury and probate judge to decide the case, despite Anna Nicole's attempt to back out of it. The jury and probate judge ruled for Pierce and against Anna Nicole Smith (and against J. Howard III, too).

So this of course led to a conflict -- one court ruled in favor of Pierce and one in favor of Anna Nicole. Which ruling should win out -- the one from the California bankruptcy case (and subsequent federal court case that upheld $88 million of the judgment in Anna Nicole's favor) or the Texas probate case?

That question has taken years ... and years ... to resolve, including two separate trips to the United States Supreme Court. During the second trip, the highest court in our country analyzed complex bankruptcy and jurisdictional laws, at great length, to side with Pierce Marshall and against team Anna Nicole. By then, both Pierce and Anna Nicole had passed on, but their two estates kept fighting each other.

The Recent Federal Court Rulings

Then, in 2013, the California federal court judge issued a new ruling in favor of Anna Nicole Smith's estate and against Pierce Marshall's estate. But that new ruling was put on hold. The California judge was unsure what to do with the conflict between the Texas court's ruling in Pierce's favor, the lengthy delays which made it difficult for both sides, but balanced against his own beliefs that Pierce committed significant wrongdoing during the California proceedings. Eventually, earlier this week, the California court decided to reverse its prior ruling and dismiss the sanctions request against Pierce's estate.

But that didn't end the battle, contrary to popular belief. It only ended the California proceedings, but Anna Nicole Smith's estate still had the right to an appeal of the Texas court. That appeal was put on hold years ago, until the California court process was concluded.

Anna Nicole's legal team recently asked a Texas appellate court to reverse the Texas probate verdict, which would allow the California rulings to be reinstated. At least, they could -- if that appeal wins and doesn't get overturned by an even higher appellate court. If that happens, then the entire basis by which the Supreme Court ruled against Smith would be thrown out of the window, because then the California ruling should take precedence.

Complicated? You bet. Almost over? Not even close. After 19 years, the battling still has another 2 to 3 years to go, if not longer.

Trial & Heirs Lesson

If this isn’t a lesson for 89-year olds to stay out of strip clubs, then we don’t know what is!

It’s also a lesson in how costly probate litigation feuds can become. While 19+ year-long battles don’t usually happen (except when more than a billion dollars is on the line, of course), even modest estates can face estate battles that last a year or two, even without an appeal. It happens all the time in our country, and not just to estates of the rich and famous.

While nothing can absolutely prevent an estate fight from happening among your heirs, the best thing you can do to minimize the chances is thorough estate planning with a good attorney, experienced in drafting wills and trusts.

Pierce Marshall convinced his father to sign new estate planning documents, with the help of his father’s estate planning attorney, who has been accused of serious fraud multiple times (and who referred to Anna Nicole Smith as “Miss Cleavage”). If J. Howard Marshall had employed a better estate planning attorney, then this feud may have been avoided — and the oil tycoon’s true wishes (whatever they may have been) could have been honored without years and years of expensive litigation.

You can learn more about Anna Nicole Smith’s Estate and the fight for the oil tycoon’s fortune in this week's episode of Celebrity Legacies, on the Reelz channel.

Celebrity Legacies is a documentary series airing on the Reelz cable channel featuring Danielle and Andy Mayoras and other experts, to explore the lives, legacies, and estates of a different celebrity each week.

Anna Nicole Smith's Case Makes A Comebacktag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01053645c43a970b01901d91b069970b2013-06-17T14:55:00-04:002014-03-08T15:03:10-05:00It’s now, officially, the Estate Fight That Refuses To Die! The quest for money started by Anna Nicole Smith — the former Playboy Playmate, stripper, TV reality star, and the true love of 89-year old Texas oil tycoon, J. Howard Marshall — is not over. Despite almost 18 years of litigation, two trips to the United States Supreme Court, and untold millions of dollars spent on legal fees, the Anna Nicole Smith case lives on. Anna Nicole Smith (a/k/a Vickie Lynn Marshall) sued after her elderly husband died, following their 14-month marriage. She was not happy being left out of...Danielle & Andy

It’s now, officially, the Estate Fight That Refuses To Die! The quest for money started by Anna Nicole Smith — the former Playboy Playmate, stripper, TV reality star, and the true love of 89-year old Texas oil tycoon, J. Howard Marshall — is not over. Despite almost 18 years of litigation, two trips to the United States Supreme Court, and untold millions of dollars spent on legal fees, the Anna Nicole Smith case lives on.

Anna Nicole Smith (a/k/a Vickie Lynn Marshall) sued after her elderly husband died, following their 14-month marriage. She was not happy being left out of his massive ($1.6 billion) estate. She blamed one of his sons, Pierce Marshall, who inherited everything.

The probate case started in Louisiana and then moved to Texas. Smith sued there, but was forced to file bankruptcy in California. When she did, Pierce sued her, filing a claim in bankruptcy court. He claimed Smith defamed him by telling the media he committed fraud in managing his father’s estate. Smith counter-sued, alleging he really did commit fraud. She also requested millions of dollars based on what, she claimed, J. Howard would have given her if Pierce had not wrongly interfered and stopped it.

In total, Anna Nicole Smith wanted one-half of J. Howard Marshall’s fortune. Sounds outrageous? Not to the California bankruptcy judge, who agreed with Smith and awarded her $475 million. That was appealed to California district court, where a different judge held a new trial and also agreed with Smith. This time, she only won $88 million — a lot less, sure, but it was certainly better than what a stripper could have earned.

That was back in 2002. Since then, Pierce Marshall appealed, had it overturned on appeal, only to have the United States Supreme Court intercede and send it back to the court of appeals for a second look. Pierce then died, followed by Anna Nicole Smith’s death in 2007, so their respective estates picked up the battle from there.

After a brief pause in the action, the court of appeals again threw out the Anna Nicole Smith case, only to have the Supreme Court step in a second time. This time, however, the Supreme Court sided against Smith and her estate lost the case, in 2011. You can read Trial & Heirs’ coverage of that decision, here. At the time, we (wrongly, it now turns out) proclaimed that the case was finally over.

But it’s not over! It won’t ever be over! The California District Court heard new claims involving the case and again ruled for team Anna Nicole Smith. The judge felt that the conduct of team Pierce Marshall and his attorney during the early rounds of litigation was so improper, unethical, and abusive, that it granted sanctions against Pierce’s estate and in favor of Smith’s estate — just a couple weeks ago.

The judge ruled that Pierce Marshall and his attorney destroyed documents, forged and back-dated others, refused to turn over information they were ordered by the court to provide, lied under oath, and committed a long-list of atrocities, all designed to cover their scheme of preventing Anna Nicole Smith from receiving a dime of J. Howard’s estate. You can read the court decision here.

The California court has yet to decide how much it will award in sanctions — saying it will depend on how much harm Smith’s attorneys can prove the improper conduct caused Smith and her estate. Given how extensive this litigation has been, the new award will likely be in the range of tens of millions of dollars. So, yes, we can expect more appeals to follow.

If they win the appeals, Anna Nicole Smith’s Estate will hope to recover some money. The problem is that, even if they win, the outstanding legal bills may be so much that Smith’s 6-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Marshall, may not see a cent.

Wow, what a saga! This is what can happen when an 89-year old billionaire falls head-over-heels in love with a woman lovingly referred to, by the attorney who represented both J. Howard and Pierce Marshall, as “Miss Cleavage.”

National Television Show Will Help Protect Family Fortunestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01053645c43a970b014e89d5e448970d2011-07-14T08:53:29-04:002013-04-09T17:41:31-04:00After months and months of preparation, this weekend we taped our television show, Trial & Heirs: Protect Your Family Fortune! Our show will premiere in Michigan on August 9th at 8 p.m. EST and air on PBS affiliates around the country in November and December. PBS will also stream the broadcast online for the premiere, through UStream.tv, so that everyone would have an opportunity to view the show in August. The taping included our show with a live studio audience (they were wonderful!), DVD extras from the two of us, and an interview with Ray Charles, Jr. Ray shared some...Danielle & Andy
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>After months and months of preparation, this weekend we taped our television show,&nbsp;<em>Trial &amp; Heirs: Protect Your Family Fortune!</em>&nbsp; Our show will premiere in Michigan on August 9th at 8 p.m. EST and air on PBS affiliates around the country in November and December. &nbsp;PBS will also stream the broadcast online for the premiere, through <a title="Trial &amp; Heirs Ustream" href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/trial-heirs" target="_blank">UStream.tv</a>, so that everyone would have an opportunity to view the show in August. &nbsp; <a style="float: right;" href="http://probatelitigation.typepad.com/.a/6a01053645c43a970b014e89d5de98970d-pi"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a01053645c43a970b014e89d5de98970d" style="width: 250px; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Danielle-Andy-film-their-national-TV-special-300x225" src="http://probatelitigation.typepad.com/.a/6a01053645c43a970b014e89d5de98970d-250wi" alt="Danielle-Andy-film-their-national-TV-special-300x225" /></a></p>
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<p>The taping included our show with a live studio audience (they were wonderful!), DVD extras from the two of us, and an interview with Ray Charles, Jr.</p>
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<p>Ray shared some touching stories about his famous father as well as the private pain that his father’s estate has caused his family. &nbsp;Ray’s full interview, including some never-before-told stories, will be available as one of the DVD extras.</p>
<p>We share some&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150245561839477.341775.147280594476&amp;l=d1d02bcf40">behind-the-scenes pictures from our production on our Trial &amp; Heirs Facebook page</a>. &nbsp;If you’re not already a member of our Facebook page, make sure to “like” it so that you receive the latest from us!</p>
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<p><a style="float: left;" href="http://probatelitigation.typepad.com/.a/6a01053645c43a970b015433b5e600970c-pi"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a01053645c43a970b015433b5e600970c" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" title="Andy and Danielle with Ray Charles, Jr." src="http://probatelitigation.typepad.com/.a/6a01053645c43a970b015433b5e600970c-800wi" border="0" alt="Andy and Danielle with Ray Charles, Jr." /></a> Our television special is based on our book,&nbsp;<em>Trial &amp; Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights!</em>&nbsp;In the show, we use high-profile celebrity stories, like Sonny Bono, Marlon Brando, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and James Brown, to educate people about wills, trusts and estate planning. The TV special will also help raise money to support the wonderful cause of public television, which needs pledge donations now more than ever with federal funding cuts.</p>
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<p>With different pledge amounts, viewers can receive the DVD of the show with DVD extras from us as well as our full interview with Ray; a copy of our book<em>, Trial &amp; Heirs</em>; and our brand new Estate Planning Organizer to help you, your family, and your clients.</p>
<p>We hope that all of you join us for the exciting premiere of&nbsp;<em>Trial &amp; Heirs: &nbsp;Protect Your Family Fortune!&nbsp;</em>on WTVS Channel 56 and UStream.tv,&nbsp;August 9th at 8pm EST!</p>
<p><em>By Danielle and Andy Mayoras, co-authors of</em><em> </em><em><a title="Trial and Heirs Famouse Fortune Fights book" href="http://www.trialandheirs.com/book">Trial &amp; Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights!</a>, husband-and-wife legacy expert attorneys, and hosts of the national TV special,</em><em> </em><em><a title="Trial and Heirs TV special Protect Your Family Fortune" href="http://www.trialandheirs.com/tv-special">Trial &amp; Heirs: &nbsp;Protect Your Family Fortune!</a></em><em> </em><em> The charismatic duo has appeared on the Rachael Ray Show, Forbes, ABC’s Live Well Network, and FOX and NBC affiliates.&nbsp; They’ve lent their expertise and analysis to hundreds of media sources, including The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Kiplinger, and The Washington Post, among many others.&nbsp; Danielle and Andy delight audiences nationwide with highly entertaining and informative presentations, dishing the dirt on celebrity estate battles while dispensing important legal information to help people avoid family fights among their heirs.</em></p>
<p><em>For the latest celebrity and high-profile cases, with tips to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your clients, subscribe to The Trial and Heirs Update at www.TrialandHeirs.com.</em></p>
Follow us on <a href="https://plus.google.com/101585826871673828841?rel=author">Google+</a></div>
The Anna Nicole Smith Case Finally Endstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01053645c43a970b014e896f61f0970d2011-06-28T20:41:00-04:002011-06-27T21:42:24-04:00No, it can’t be … has the 15-year saga started by Anna Nicole Smith, as she tried to get money from the estate of her deceased husband, really come to and end? The court battle involved the fortune owned by the late J. Howard Marshall, II, who was a 90-year-old Texas oil billionaire before he passed away in 1995. The case started in Texas probate court, moved to bankruptcy court in California, traveled up and down the federal court system through numerous appeals, hearings, and even two trips to the United States Supreme Court. The case survived the death of...Danielle & Andy

No, it can’t be … has the 15-year saga started by Anna Nicole Smith, as she tried to get money from the estate of her deceased husband, really come to and end? The court battle involved the fortune owned by the late J. Howard Marshall, II, who was a 90-year-old Texas oil billionaire before he passed away in 1995.

The case started in Texas probate court, moved to bankruptcy court in California, traveled up and down the federal court system through numerous appeals, hearings, and even two trips to the United States Supreme Court.

The case survived the death of both people who were fighting — Anna Nicole Smith and her step-son (who was 27 years older than she was). But the case is alive no more. Anna Nicole’s quest for a bequest has failed.

That’s right, apparently love doesn’t conquer all. We all know that Anna Nicole must have been deeply in love with Howard Marshall (whom she met while stripping) despite their age difference of more than 60 years. And she was rewarded for her love with about $8 million in gifts during their brief marriage that lasted just over a year.

But she never did get what she really hoped for … a piece of the inheritance pie. And what a pie it was! Valued at over $1.6 billion, the money went primarily to Marshall’s younger son, E. Pierce Marshall.

Anna Nicole won a judgment against him in California for $470 million, based on a claim he wrongfully prevented his elderly father from changing his will and trust to include Anna Nicole. It was that judgment which the United States Supreme Court callously took away from the former Playboy Playmate of the Year, just a few days ago.

The lengthy court opinion compared the case to Charles Dickens’ famous Bleak House tale of a tragic court case that went on … and on … and on. Five of the nine Supreme Court Justices felt the first bankruptcy judge who ruled in Anna Nicole’s favor violated the United States Constitution of all things (even though, interestingly, they felt his ruling would otherwise have been valid under federal statutory law).

So, thanks to that pesky Article III of the United States Constitution, the Estate of Vicki Lynn Marshall (the real name of Anna Nicole Smith) cannot recover any money from the Estate of Pierce Marshall. And this painfully long and at-times shocking tale of a celebrity estate fight gone horribly wrong has reached its conclusion.

At Trial & Heirs, it is our mission to teach you, your loved ones and your clients how to protect families and life savings through good estate planning, so battles like this don’t happen to you and those you care about. So with each celebrity story, we share a lesson.

There are many lessons we could chose from for this story. Like using a fully-funded revocable trust to make sure that assets are protected from those that aren’t supposed to inherit (even when they are a spouse). And working with an experienced probate litigation attorney when a family fight does start, to prevent emotions from causing a mere disagreement to blow up into a protracted court fight. And, of course, warning families to be on the look out for undue influence as a means to exploit seniors.

But, for this story of lust, power, money and the court case that never wanted to end, we’ll go with a more obvious one.

By Andy and Danielle Mayoras, co-authors of Trial & Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights!, husband-and-wife legacy expert attorneys, and hosts of an upcoming national PBS special. The charismatic duo has appeared on the Rachael Ray Show, Forbes, ABC's Live Well Network, WGN-TV and has lent their expertise and analysis to hundreds of media sources. As dynamic keynote speakers, Danielle and Andy delight audiences nationwide with highly entertaining and informative presentations, dishing the dirt on celebrity estate battles while dispensing important legal information.

Trial & Heirs' Top Tips for 2011 via Forbestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01053645c43a970b0147e25e0692970b2011-02-06T20:43:17-05:002011-02-06T20:43:05-05:00Now into the second month of 2011, it’s not too late to make a fresh start with the important topic of estate planning, which so many people find ways to keep putting off. We think it’s helpful to see what happened last year with some celebrity estates to help add motivation for proper legal planning in 2011. What happened in 2010? Dennis Hopper and Gary Coleman both passed away, sparking ugly court fights. The estates of Michael Jackson and Steve McNair dragged on with no end in sight, and Anna Nicole Smith’s efforts to claim a share of her 90-year...Danielle & Andy

Now into the second month of 2011, it’s not too late to make a fresh start with the important topic of estate planning, which so many people find ways to keep putting off. We think it’s helpful to see what happened last year with some celebrity estates to help add motivation for proper legal planning in 2011.

What happened in 2010? Dennis Hopper and Gary Coleman both passed away, sparking ugly court fights. The estates of Michael Jackson and Steve McNair dragged on with no end in sight, and Anna Nicole Smith’s efforts to claim a share of her 90-year old deceased husband’s billion dollar estate continued into its fifteenth year in court! In addition, the estates of Farah Fawcett, Gary Coleman, Brittany Murphy, and George Steinbrenner provided valuable lessons on how to (and how not to) protect families through estate planning.

Here’s how to make the most of changes in the law this year.

Familiarize Yourself with 2011 Estate Tax Laws. George Steinbrenner timed his death well by passing away in 2010 when there was no estate tax. (See, “Steinbrenner Goes Out A Real Winner.”) Of course, billionaire Roger Milliken timed it even better, dying less than 48 hours before the 2011 laws would take effect. In fact, with the new laws, Milliken’s heirs and others can elect whether to use the 2010 or 2011 laws, picking the ones that are most advantageous.

So what are the 2011 laws? The estate tax is back at a maximum rate of 35%, with a $5 million exemption for individuals and $10 million exemption for married couples. If the spouse that passes away first fails to use up the full $5 million exemption, it carries over and can be added to the second spouse’s $5 million exemption. The gift tax and generation skipping tax are both set at the same $5 million level. Additionally, the annual gift exclusion remains $13,000 per year, and gifts of tuition and payments of medical care are still exempt.

* * *

Review and Update your Estate Planning Documents. A critical component of estate planning is to update wills, trusts, powers of attorneys and other documents every few years. It is especially important after significant life events, like marriages, births, and divorces. You don’t have to wait until the life event is complete to update your legal documents. (See, “CelebrityDeathAndDivorce Train Wrecks.”)

Gary Coleman broke this critical rule. He created a handwritten codicil to his will in 2007 leaving much of his estate to his wife, Shannon Price. After they divorced, however, Coleman never updated his will or created a new one. That led to a court fight after he died about whether Coleman was still married to Price. Even though they never officially tied the knot for a second time, Price claimed they had a “common-law marriage,” which would mean that the handwritten will would be valid. Had the former Diff’rent Strokes! star simply made a new will, it’s likely that he could have avoided the estate fight.

* * *

Beware of Financial Exploitation. This year the first “official” baby boomer turned 65. In fact, there will be around 2.5 million boomers hitting this standard retirement age this year. Exploitation of those 65 and older is a growing epidemic, and the aging baby boomer population will only make it more common. A study by Met Life found that seniors are exploited in the amount of 2.6 billion dollars each and every year and that this figure will grow as the baby boomers cause the number of seniors to increase.

The same study reported that about two-thirds of those who exploit seniors are family members or others that the victim already knows and trusts. A common method is through “undue influence,” where someone tries to convince a senior to change his or her will, trust, bank account, and/or deed, against what the person would otherwise want to do.

Does the Anna Nicole Smith case come to mind? The United States Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that it will hear her case for the second time. Did she wrongly take advantage of her 90-year old husband, or did his son use fraud and other improper means to stop the billionaire from leaving money to Anna Nicole? After 15 years of fighting, we still don’t have a definitive answer.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that exploitation only happens to 80 and 90-year olds. Farrah Fawcett’s estate and trust are in the midst of two heated lawsuits. In the Fawcett case, a Holllywood producer and the trustee of Farrah’s Trust accuse each other of taking advantage of Farrah’s weakened state, before she died of cancer on June 25, 2009.

Good estate planning and proactive, vigilant families are the keys to preventing both the exploitation of seniors and court fights after someone passes away. Make 2011 the year that you and your loved ones stop procrastinating and get your legal affairs in order.

Forbes Video on Protecting Against Financial Exploitationtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01053645c43a970b0148c83a7fb0970c2011-02-01T22:02:00-05:002011-02-03T20:38:22-05:002011 marks the first year that baby boomers turn 65. This means there will be a dramatic increase in the number of seniors in the years to come, making it extra important to raise awareness and help families protect against financial exploitation. Andrew Mayoras recently discussed this topic, featuring some prevention tips on Forbes.com. Of course, discussions of a few celebrity cases are included, such as Wesley Snipes, Anna Nicole Smith, and Farrah Fawcett. Here's the video: Posted by: Andrew W. Mayoras and Danielle B. Mayoras, co-authors of Trial and Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights! and co-founders of The Center for...Danielle & Andy

2011 marks the first year that baby boomers turn 65. This means there will be a dramatic increase in the number of seniors in the years to come, making it extra important to raise awareness and help families protect against financial exploitation.

Andrew Mayoras recently discussed this topic, featuring some prevention tips on Forbes.com. Of course, discussions of a few celebrity cases are included, such as Wesley Snipes, Anna Nicole Smith, and Farrah Fawcett.

It's baaaack ... The Anna Nicole Smith Casetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01053645c43a970b0133f4d2d9a4970b2010-10-03T22:00:53-04:002010-10-03T22:00:53-04:00It has to rank as one of the craziest, lengthiest and most-watched probate litigation court cases of all time. It officially started as Vicki Lynn Marshall (a/k/a Anna Nicole Smith) vs. E. Pierce Marshall (son and sole beneficiary of the late oil tycoon, J. Howard Marshall). Originally, the Smith team won an $88 million against her "step-son", Pierce, but that victory was taken away by the Court of Appeals, which ended the fight. That is, it was over until the United States Supreme Court ruled in Smith's favor and reinstated the case. Then Pierce died, followed by Anna Nicole Smith....Danielle & Andy

It has to rank as one of the craziest, lengthiest and most-watched probate litigation court cases of all time. It officially started as Vicki Lynn Marshall (a/k/a Anna Nicole Smith) vs. E. Pierce Marshall (son and sole beneficiary of the late oil tycoon, J. Howard Marshall).

Originally, the Smith team won an $88 million against her "step-son", Pierce, but that victory was taken away by the Court of Appeals, which ended the fight. That is, it was over until the United States Supreme Court ruled in Smith's favor and reinstated the case.

Then Pierce died, followed by Anna Nicole Smith. But, just because they both passed away doesn't mean the fighting stopped! Their two estates have continued to battle over the billions left behind by Smith's 90-year-old husband, 15 years after he died.

Then, this past March, the Court of Appeals again threw out the case (on a different legal ground). Once again Smith's estate, with the infamous Howard K. Stern at the helm, asked the Supreme Court to step in and review the Court of Appeals' decision.

The request was a long-shot, at best. The Supreme Court hears less than 5% of cases that it is asked to review (of the "paid" appeals; the percentages are far lower for appeals by indigent parties). Given that Smith's estate already won once, chances weren't good that the Supreme Court would agree to step in again.

But they did! Just a few days ago, the highest court in our country ruled that it would hear the case again. You can read the very-technical questions that the nine justices will review on the case: Download the Supreme Court cert. document.

To simplify a very technical matter, the Supreme Court will help decide whether the California district court judge who ruled in Smith's favor, after a Texas probate court already ruled against her, had proper legal authority to do so.

[If you're really interested in what questions the Supreme Court will resolve, the justices will decide how integral Smith's legal claim was to her bankruptcy filing. If her legal battle against the oil tycoon's son was considered a "core" proceeding to her bankruptcy, then it was proper for the California court to rule in her favor. If it was less directly related to her bankruptcy (therefore a "non-core" issue), the California judge would have lacked legal authority to rule for Smith after she already lost in the Texas probate court.]

That sure makes an interesting case sound boring, doesn't it? Here's our prior article discussing what the case was all about, before it morphed into a hyper-technical bankruptcy law dispute. Trust us, it started out as a pretty wild case before the focus switched to what judge had proper jurisdiction.

So what are the Smith's team chances of success in the Supreme Court? Pretty good, actually. Recent statistics show that about 80% of all cases that the Supreme Court decides to hear end up being reversed in some manner. The real hard part is getting the case heard; once that happens, there's a high probability that Smith's case will be reinstated, at least in part.

But, even if she wins, the legal proceeding would most likely return to the same Court of Appeals, which has already ruled against her twice.

In other words, even though it's been 15 years of fighting, it could be many more years before it's all done! The Supreme Court won't even hear oral arguments from the lawyers on this case until 2011, and if the case is returned to a lower court, that could take another 2 to 3 years (or more).

As we said in our book, Trial & Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights!, it was all because an "89-year old billionaire married a 26-year old stripper". No one ever said that true love was easy!

You can visit our new and improved website to read more about our book, which discusses this case and dozen more celebrity battles to help people learn from celebrity errors so they can protect their heirs.